Government's loans perk up Persimmon

Persimmon invested £240million in its land bank and acquired 7,300 new plots last year

Britain’s biggest homes developer by market value said reservations had jumped by 30 per cent since the launch in April of the Help To Buy scheme, which lends buyers 20 per cent of the value of a new home worth up to £600,000.

Home sales increased by 7 per cent to 5,022 over the same period in 2012, while demand for larger properties lifted the average selling price by 5 per cent to £179,200.

The number of visitors to its sites was up 13 per cent and group revenues climbed 12 per cent to £900million.

Persimmon chief executive Jeff Fairburn said: “We are encouraged by the gradual increase in the number of major mortgage lenders supporting this Government initiative and anticipate that all the major lenders will be providing Help To Buy-related mortgage products over the coming weeks.

“This will present a wider choice to customers and will help to support further increases in new home sales.

This will present a wider choice to customers and will help to support further increases in new home sales.

Jeff Fairburn, Persimmon chief executive

“Throughout the period there has been an improvement in the availability of mortgage credit and a gradual reduction in mortgage interest costs supported by the Government’s scheme.”

Persimmon invested £240million in its land bank and acquired 7,300 new plots over the period, but Fairburn bemoaned the level of planning conditions which is delaying progress on a number of developments.

The company, which paid the first £228million tranche last month of a 10-year £1.9billion return to shareholders, said consumer confidence remains fragile.

Fairburn said: “We expect the rate of sales to reduce during the summer,” but he said he was still optimistic.